It was well past midnight before the fourth nation was confirmed for the semi finals of the Sudirman Cup, as Indonesia and Japan’s quarter final went all the way to the 5th and final rubber.

Chandra and Ahsan took the opening doubles match for the Indonesians before the likely Japanese comeback took place in the singles event. Eriko Hirose leveled the quarter final at 1-1 with a three game victory before Kenichi Tago put Japan into a 2-1 lead with a comfortable two game victory over Simon Santoso in two games as Indonesia toiled without the threat of Taufik Hidayat in the men’s singles.

Japan went on the brink of victory, only for Indonesia to level the tie at 2-2 with a tight 2 game victory from Polii and Jauhari over Naito and Matsuo to send the match into a deciding rubber. The mixed doubles would determine who would progress and it was the Indonesian pair of Tang and Bernadeth that struck first against Ikeda and Shiota, winning the opening game 21-19. The Japanese faught back in the second, but the Indonesian’s had two chances to win the match in the second game, only to squander them and allow the match to be levelled at 1-1 as the Japanese pair took the second game 25-23. The Indonesian’s response in the 3rd game was nothing but positive, refusing to let the Japanese pair close the gap as the match time ticked well past the 60 minute mark before clinching the match 21-14 in the deciding game in a stunning 83-minute match to book Indonesia’s place in the last 4, with the entire tie taking more than four and a half hours to complete.

The other quarter final played today was a much more straightforward encounter, as Denmark took on Chinese Taipei for a chance to play Indonesia in the last 4. The Danes started the strongest, with a win from Pedersen and Fischer Neilsen in two games to set Denmark on their way. Peter Gade doubled the lead, after losing the opening game to Hsueh Hsuan Yi but eventually came through in three games in a match that took exactly one hour.

The world #1 pairing of Boe and Mogensen had the chance to secure a 3-0 victory for Denmark but they were defeated by the world #6 pairing of Fang and Lee in an exceptionally tight three game match, with the Chinese Taipei pair taking the match 22-20, 21-23, 21-18 in 70 minutes to send the tie to the fourth match. Tine Baun was given the chance to close out the match like Boe and Mogensen, but after losing the opening game to Tai Tzu Ying expectation of a deciding match begun to creep into the Danish squad. Tine Baun responded to level the match at one game all before completing Denmark’s progression into the semi finals with a 13-21, 21-16, 21-14 victory to book a semi final clash against Indonesia.